In a Feb. 20 opinion piece published by The Washington Post, R.R. Reno, editor of the journal First Things, called himself a “Catholic and a Zionist,” pushing back against recent comments made by Carrie Prejean Boller, a Catholic, during a White House Religious Liberty Commission hearing.
During the Feb. 9 hearing, Prejean Boller said that “Catholics do not embrace Zionism” and cited Catholic scholars, Jewish leaders, and Scripture to argue that the Catholic faith does not require support for political Zionism. Her comments led to widespread debate, and two days later, Republican Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said he was removing her from the commission. Prejean Boller responded by arguing Patrick lacked the authority to dismiss her – a power, she said, reserved for President Donald Trump.
In his column, Reno wrote that the “Catholic church advances no specific teaching on Zionism,” noting that he believes this principle stems in part from Jesus’ statement to Pontius Pilate that His Kingdom is “not of this world.”
Catholics are free to support political arrangements based on theological principles, moral considerations, and historical realities, he wrote. “For this reason, a Catholic can be a Zionist — or not — just as he can be a monarchist — or not.”
“I am a Catholic and a Zionist,” he continued. “But my position is not ‘Catholic Zionism.’ Rather, it is plain-old Zionism: The Jewish people are justified in establishing a sovereign nation in the land of their ancestors.”
Reno cited Theodor Herzl, who founded modern political Zionism in the late 19th century and believed that Jews need sovereignty to ensure freedom from persecution.
Reno argued that Christians bear some “culpability” for fostering antisemitism in the West, and that this guilt is one reason for a Catholic to support Zionism.
“True repentance may require reparation,” Reno wrote. “As a Catholic, my commitment to Zionism atones for the sins of my forefathers in the faith.”
Belief in Jesus as the incarnate Son of God places all history under Christ’s lordship, yet Christians have wrestled since the time of St. Paul with the fact that many Jews did not accept Christ as the promised Messiah, Reno wrote.
Citing St. Paul’s letter to the Romans, Reno pointed to two principles that shape Christian reflection on the Jewish people: the “gifts and call of God are irrevocable,” and the Jewish rejection of Jesus as Messiah is “somehow essential to the universal mission of the Church.” These principles give Christians reasons for a “special solicitude toward the Jewish people.”
While acknowledging that St. Paul’s writings do not establish territorial claims to the Holy Land, Reno said he believes the presence of a Jewish state in Israel is “fitting.”
“If God in his providence wishes to preserve the Jewish people in their own sovereign nation, it makes more sense that it would be in the biblical land of their origins than in Arizona or Tahiti,” he said.
Reno also argued that Catholic social doctrine emphasizes peace in state affairs, thus favoring support for established states over revolution or undermining legitimacy.
“The state of Israel exists. Undermining its legitimacy and aiding those who seek its destruction is far more likely to lead to widespread violence and inhumanity than its continued existence,” he wrote, “whatever one thinks of the circumstances of the nation’s founding or its present policies.”
Finally, Reno tied his stance to American patriotism, which he said compels him to support the state of Israel — “my country’s best ally.”
“Put simply: A responsible American Catholic who accepts the burdens of history, reflects theologically, and weighs the demands of Catholic social doctrine will be a Zionist,” he concluded, “however qualified with criticisms of Israeli policies, however nuanced by hopes for a two-state solution, however burdened by sadness over the suffering of Palestinians.”
“Zionism is not a religious obligation,” he concluded, “it is a consequence of thinking clearly.”